Meet Mischa….
Mischa is my five-year-old Husky. We adopted Misha in 2025, and she is the first animal I have ever had. I waited a very long time in my life to decide to get a dog, and I may have gone my entire life without knowing the love of a dog, but I knew Mischa before we adopted and when the opportunity to adopt her unexpectedly arose, we happily said yes! I'm sure I would have found a way but in my 20s but it would have been very difficult to fit dog ownership into my budget.
As a Financial Advisor, I live in the world of money, budgets, and goal-based planning. Mischa is a Husky and they are notorious escape artists. Although Mischa was chill when we decided to adopt her, I had a fence put into our backyard that was $7,000. Average cost for food veterinary and a semiannual blowout for Mischa adds an additional $5,000 to the budget annually. To put this into context: if you're a single person making $75,000 a year, that puts you at the 22% income tax rate and an average of an additional 5% state income taxes. let's go a step further and say that you have a job and they match your 401K at 3% you’re after tax income; This equals $52,500, which means the cost of having a healthy young dog is approximately 10% of your annual income.
We are so happy to have Mischa is our lives and forever grateful we made the right decision. Though the thought of adding a furry friend to your family can seem like a no brainer, it is important to analyze your budget to ensure it is affordable.